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Browse news articles about J-PAL and our affiliated professors, and read our press releases and monthly global and research newsletters. For media inquiries, please email us.

The Medium-Term Impact of Conditional Cash Transfers on Health and Education in Indonesia

Nur Cahyadi
Rizal Adi Prima
Elan Satriawan
Ekki Syamsulhakim
Researchers examined the medium-term impacts of a large-scale CCT program on health, education, and economic outcomes in Indonesia. Six years following the introduction of cash transfers, the program resulted in reductions in stunting, increased rates of childbirth in the presence of trained birth...

The Impact of a Digital Credit for Small-Scale Farmers in Ghana

Researchers are evaluating the impact of an innovative mobile phone-based digital finance program on loan repayment rates, investment decisions, savings, and use of other financial services, as well as agricultural yields and profits.

Sequencing Two Early Childhood Interventions Back-to-back in India

Britta Augsburg
Jere Behrman
Sally Grantham-McGregor
Angus Phimister
Marta Rubio-Codina
Exposure to poverty very early in life can harm individuals’ cognitive development. Interventions that promote early-life stimulation can counteract these deficits and lay a foundation for success throughout life. Researchers are evaluating the impact of immediately following up an early childhood...

The Role of Information and Preferences in School Choices in Romania

Robert Ainsworth
Rajeev Dehejia
In this randomized evaluation in Romania, researchers compared the roles of preferences and information in households’ decision-making, with regard to high school selection. Results suggest that households provided with information on school quality tend to choose schools that have a greater...

Messaging Strategies to Promote Safe Water and Hygiene in Bangladesh

Kaniz Jannat
David Levine
Stephen Luby
Thomas Polley
Leanne Unicomb
Researchers tested whether sharing messages that appealed to negative emotions, like shame or disgust, increased households’ hand-washing behavior and willingness to pay for water chlorination in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Negative messaging had no impact on chlorination levels or willingness to pay, but...

Video-Mediated Agricultural Extension to Increase Technology Adoption Among Farmers in Ethiopia

Gashaw T Abate
Simrin Makhija
David J. Spielman
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of a video-mediated extension approach on the uptake of technologies recommended by the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture. The video-mediated instruction increased uptake through improved access to extension and farmer knowledge but...